Gender should not be a factor in education.

Globally, 65 million girls are not in school. Of the 774 million people who are illiterate around the world, two-thirds are women. There are 33 million fewer girls in primary school than boys.

Why does this matter? Research shows that educating girls can save millions of lives, including the lives of young girls around the world. The statistics are startling: If every woman around the globe had a primary and secondary education, child deaths would be cut in half, saving 3 million people. A girl with eight years of education is four times less likely to marry as a child. If a girl earned just one extra year of education, she can earn 20 percent more as an adult.

To celebrate International Women’s Day on March 8, we’ve rounded up 50 photos of girls going to school around the world.

Why Should You Find a Career in Technology by Nicole McMackin,President, Irvine TechCorp

As a young girl the farthest thing from my mind was technology, even further was finding a career in technology. I thought technology was for eggheads, nerds, gamers, and basically anyone who had zero personality and was on the fast track to nowhere. Boy, was I was wrong! As I entered into the workforce after graduating college, I found that the people who I was impressed by the most, (the entrepreneurs, innovators, brilliant thinkers) were all part of the technology group I formerly shied away from. Today, I see so many young men and boys using apps and moreover creating technology to innovate and change the world. Law firms are kept busy by young and old alike filing thousands of patents that will change the world one day. In 2015, the top paying jobs and most in demand typically fall within the technology sector. Knowing all of this information, why are young women choosing to stay out of the technology sector? Don’t they want to take their place as one of the nation’s brilliant minds?

I was at the gym a few weeks back and met a nice lady on the treadmill next to me. We began talking and she told me she was a middle school technology teacher in Huntington Beach, CA, not too far from where I currently live. I inquired about her curriculum and student ratios and she told me that out of forty students only two were female. She said that the girls thought it was a class for game developers and opted out of the class. The overview of the class read more like coding and development rather than out of the box thinking and innovation.

Silicon Valley might be the gold standard for America's tech scene, but it's still far from the best city for women in the industry.

Smart Asset recently released its list of the best cities for women in tech. The personal finance resource based its ranking on four factors: the percentage of jobs in the industry held by women, the income left over after covering rent or mortgage, the percent change in women holding jobs over a three-year period, and the gender pay gap between the median salary for women and median salary for men.

Washington, D.C. came out on top, with 37.2% of jobs in the industry filled by women.

The Golden State only cracked the top 10 once, thanks to Silicon Valley-adjacent Fremont. The home of Tesla grabbed the third slot on the list.

Taking a Closer Look

As a young woman who has worked in the tech-startup industry for the past few years, I would think that more females would want to be a part of shaping the future of technology, yet statistics illustrate the opposite. In fact, the amount of women in STEM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) is dismal, and rather embarrassing.

3 figures that highlight the small percentage of women involved in tech can be found here:

American Express Open discusses with Irvine Tech President Nicole McMackin!

Not all small businesses today existed when the historic dotcom bubble burst from 1999 to 2001, but that colossal failure of many early Internet-based companies is remembered as a testament to what can happen in the wake of overvaluation.

In light of recent stock plunges, some of which are affecting Internet giants, it’s not surprising that some market forecasters are predicting we may be headed for another busted Internet bubble. Reasons for this include a decrease in private startup funding rounds and more startups finding it necessary to raise money overseas, because big investors no longer seem to trust Internet valuations.

Internet Bubble Bursting?

Despite recent setbacks in the stock market, some small-business owners in the trenches don’t feel that the Internet bubble is bursting.

“I do not think the tech bubble is ending. True innovation always has a place in the market,” says Nicole McMackin, president of Irvine Technology Corporation. “Many of the companies experiencing lower stock valuation have become stagnant to the users and/or investors, but people will always invest in new and creative devices and concepts. Small and large firms alike are busy working on the ‘next greatest thing’ that will change the way we work, communicate and live. Those companies that demonstrate a true value to society will receive proper financial backing.”

Rich Pleeth, founder of Sup App, a free mobile app that notifies users when friends are nearby, sees investors becoming increasingly cautious, given the current state of the stock market.